Chosen
by Shadows4383
Summary: Vampires come every 5-10 years to pick out new brides. jaya gets chosen as one. this is her journey
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 watched

It's the first day of warm weather, and the eve of my sixteenth birthday. I woke up earlier than usual and decided to watch the new morning's clouds in the field. I lay down on the ground, it's a little wet from the morning dew, but also very warm.

Watching the clouds go by I think I may fall asleep out here like I do sometimes. Everything is so quiet usually you would hear a bird or one of the women up to start the morning breakfast, but I don't hear anyone, not even a cricket. Odd, isn't any of the tribe even up yet?

I was about to fall asleep from just watching the clouds go by, when I hear the noise of leaves being crunched; it scares me a little. Shifting myself up into a sitting position, I turn around and see my little sister Nala running toward me. She stops just where my head was just at. I let her catch her breath before I start to talk.

"Jaya, Jaya dad wants you!" Nala blurts out once she caught her breath.

"Where is he?" I ask a little annoyed.

"Uhh, I think either in the main teepee or at the cooking fire."

"I'll find him in a couple minutes." I said as I began to lie back down.

"No, no he needs you now, he said it is urgent."

"Fine I'm going, I'm going."

"I'll help you find him," she said as she began to grab my hand.

"No, go help mom with Deven," – my little brother - I said shoving her in the general direction of our teepee.

"She already got him ready."

"Well go anyway; I still want to be alone some more."

"Okay," she grumbled as she set off the way she came.

"Thank you!" I yell after her.

I watch her turn the corner feeling a little sorry about yelling at her. I should probably start to look for him. I wonder what he wants that can't wait till breakfast. I guess I'll figure it out, time to go find him.

I walk back to the teepees. Everyone is up, but they are doing it quietly and they keep looking around. What does it mean? Did mother tell me about it? She did; it's almost time for them to pick new brides; this isn't good at all.

I don't see any women my own age or close to it. All I see is young children, men, and older women. That means I'm right; the families are keeping their older daughters inside and out of sight. I've been outside all morning, in plain sight; great, dad's going to kill me.

I walk into the main teepee to check if he's there. He isn't. Therefore, I make my way to the cooking fire lodge. The village is too quiet; it's starting to creep me out. I only felt this way one other time and that was ten years ago. When they came to collect their new brides, for three days the village felt like it does today. By the end of the third day, ten of our tribe's women were gone.

I ran through the flap of the cooking fire lodge. Feeling a little safer now that I'm surrounded by men, I see my father stirring something in a pot on the fire. Only once every ten years do our men cook; it's sort of funny. The flap closes behind me; his head snaps up. A face of relief stares up at me.

He hands the stirring stick to one of the other men in the circle. He takes a couple of steps toward me, stops, and begins to stare at me. I bow to him to show respect, he bows back. I don't know what to say I do know that he will get to say whatever he wants to say to me in his own time, I just have to wait.

I watch his face. His thankful expression slowly comes off his face and is replaced with one of thinking. I keep watching him waiting for him to speak. My legs start to get tired. There are benches by the fire. He still hasn't said anything so I make my way to the benches and take a seat.

Once I get comfortable, I turn to where he sat next to me. His thinking look is gone and now has one I don't know very well. Normally I can read his face well enough, but right now, his expression is one I haven't seen enough to know what it is.

"Where were you?" he interrupted my thought process.

"I woke up early and went to the field to watch the clouds," I confessed.

"Didn't you notice the signs that they are coming?"

"Only as I came to find you, before I was thinking too much. Is that the only thing you want to talk to me about?"

"You are entering woman hood tomorrow at dawn, correct?"

"Yes that is correct. What is on your mind?"

"You also know about the trouble we are having with the Shang tribe."

"Yes I do."

"They heard the chief's daughter is entering womanhood. Which means now you can be married. They agreed to have the treaty on one condition."

"Which is what?"

"I know you probably know you have duties as my daughter."

"Dad please tell me. You are making me confused. What are you saying?"

"They will only do the treaty if you marry their chief's son."

"Okay, when do they get here?"

"Later today, you're fine with this?"

"Yes, I know it will do the tribe good and I want to do anything I can for the tribe."

"Thank you daughter I'm very proud of you. Now I need you to go back to the teepee and stay hidden."

"I will father. One question."

"Yes?"

"What is his name?"

"Makya, now go, I have to get back to preparing breakfast."

Without another word, he turns and goes back to the pot accepting the stirring stick back. I watch him for a second before turning around and heading out of the teepee. Once outside I begin to feel watched and I don't like it. I set off at a run to my family's teepee.

I run straight through the flap not stopping to open it politely. I turned to make sure it closed before I let out a sigh of relief. Nala looks up at me with a smile; she has her buckskin doll in her lap. Mom is in the corner with Deven on _her_ lap. She looks up but doesn't say anything. With the look in her eyes, I am definitely in trouble. She knows I can read her eyes; it's odd how most of the time just by looking at her, I know what she is thinking.

She starts to shift around and moving the now sleeping Deven to her hip. Finally, standing up she beckons Nala, who isn't paying attention, over to her. I step closer to Nala and her with my hand. She moves her head up I motion with my chin telling her mom wants her. Nala understands and sets the buckskin doll at my feet and goes to see what mom wants.

Nala comes back with the sleeping Deven in her arms. I watch as she puts him under the cover. I get lost in thought when someone lays a hand on my shoulder. I look up to see my mother's face looking down at me. I turn around to face her.

She places her other hand on my other shoulder. Guiding me to where she sat before with Deven. I sat down while she sat beside me. I started to feel lonely I wanted to crawl into her arms like I used to do. It was like she read my mind, instantly her arms opened up. I smiled up at her as I crawled into her arms.

Once in her lap, she started to enclose me in her arms. I snuggled closer, wanting her warmth, but I can't shake the feeling of being watched. Does this feeling mean I'm going to be chosen? What will happen if I do get chosen? The tribe won't have a treaty and mom would lose me. I don't think I can leave her after all she has always been here for me.

_Like when a couple of years ago, I accidentally let the horses out of the corral. Dad yelled at me and told me that I would have to earn his trust back. After he yelled at me, I ran. _

_I ran as hard and as fast as I could. That's when mom found me; I had to stop to catch my breath by the lake. She was there, washing clothes; imminently she stopped what she was doing and came to me. I jumped into her open arms. We sat there for hours till my tears ran dry. _

_When I finally stopped crying, she turned me around to face her. I didn't want to look up at her face, fearing what I might see. When I finally did, there was no anger only love and caring. She told me everything was all right and she got the story out of me slowly, but she probably already heard it before she came out here. It still felt good telling her what happened to myself._

_When I finally felt better, it was almost dark. We had been sitting there all morning and didn't even realize it. We walked back to the village hand in hand. She led the way through the village. I didn't pay attention, just wondering what was to come. We reached the biggest teepee – the chief's, which just happened to be dad's- I took my hand out of hers and shifted behind her buckskin dress to hide. _

_She looked down at the sudden release of her hand, smiled, and began to walk through the door. With me still attached to her buckskin dress, we entered the dark teepee. Dad was sitting on the throne, looking sternly at me. Mom pulled me out from behind her. I struggled against her strong grip. She pulled me out easily; I bet she didn't even realize I was using all my strength._

_She set me in front of her and put her hands on both of my shoulders to keep me there. She already knew how he handled, it losing his temper as he does – a lot. I hate disappointing him. Fighting in my mind trying to figure out if I should keep looking down or chance it and look up, I finally decided to look up. His stern expression was gone, exchanged with one of remorse. It took me a second, but I figured out what was happening. Mom was scolding dad with her eyes like she does with me when I do something wrong. She never wastes her words; you get enough of a bad feeling rushing through your body when she scolds you with her eyes. _

_I've never seen mom do this to dad before, it gave me the creeps. What else can she do? She continued to stare at him; he began to shift uneasily in his chair. He got up and walked to me. He had never done this before; he knelt down and apologized to me. I hugged him happily and stood there._

Mom had always been there for me when I needed her or even when I didn't. What if, once I get married, I have a problem and need comforting? Who will be there to help me? A hand swept across my face stopping my fretting. I must be crying at the thought of losing her.

"What is the matter Ijaya?" She asked, using my full name.

"I'm due to marry soon," I said confessing my problem.

"Yes, I already know your father brought it up yesterday. What did you say?"

"I said yes."

"Why? Ijaya, The whole tribe knows that you would do anything for them and that you'll do it even if you don't like it a single, solitary bit."

"For the good of the tribe; I want to make Dad proud of me. Also, it's the only way."

"It's not the only way, you know that. They tried it once already with me and your father. They thought it would last, but it didn't. I don't want you to give up everything for a treaty that may only last a little bit."

"Mom, I have to do this."

"Do you really want to do this? I won't let if you are not sure."

"I am pos-"

"Don't say anything until you have had time to think it over, okay?" she shushed

I nodded.

"Now what's bothering you?"

"Nothing," I said too quickly.

"I know you better than that, Ijaya," she said sternly.

I looked at my feet and sigh. "I think I may be getting chosen." I confessed quietly.

"Why do you think that?" She asked, suddenly perplexed.

"I feel this presence watching me, even in here it is strong-"

"Oh." She held up one hand, stopping me mid-sentence.

"Mom? Mom what is it?" I asked watching her face become deeply worried.

She turns and talks to my sister. "Nala can you go and get water? Take Deven to help you, we will need it very soon." She requested. It was more like an order, though.

"Yes mama." She turned to the sleeping Deven, picked him up, and ran out the door. I watch them go, still feeling the presence. I look up; mom is looking at me again.

"When did you start to feel this?"

"In the field this morning, while I was watching the clouds. Why?"

"I think you're right about being chosen. Are you still feeling the presence right now?"

"Yes, I have been feeling it all day except when I entered the cooking teepee with the men around; I didn't have the feeling anymore."

"We can't tell your father about this. He does not even know I know what this means. Did you tell him about this?"

"No I didn't, only that I could feel that they are coming. Then I changed the subject quickly. What are you saying? I mean, other than that I might be marked."

"I think I may know which one has chosen you. You won't like it at all."

"Oh. I need to know so if it is true that I'm chosen, I can be ready."

"Xavier, he is the leader of the clan."

"Can I ask what they are? Dad always just told me not to worry about their names. He never actually told me what _they_ really are. Why do we just let them choose brides from our women?"

"I shouldn't be telling you this, but you asked. They are bloodsuckers the new people call them vampires. Once every ten years they come to pick new brides. No one knows what happened to the old ones. Some say that they start new lives. Others claim that they are killed. Why we just give up the chosen ones is because if we don't, they won't attack us."

"Oh. So how do you know so much about them and this Xavier? Do you guys have a history or something?"

"Yes we do. The way I know so much about them is that Xavier took my older sister twenty years ago. You are saying the same things that I said."

"What do you mean—the same things that you said?"

"He first picked me; I was the same age as you. We were twins; she didn't want me to leave my family so when they were collecting, she went in my place. I fought her with all my might, but she knocked me across the head. When I woke up she, all the other Chosen ones, and the bloodsuckers were gone. I pretended to be her for another month until I married your father. I told him the day after my family was gone."

"You mean being chosen runs in my blood?"

"In away yes, you know if you are chosen you will have to go with him. You won't be able to run anywhere. They will catch you without any trouble."

"Yes I know that I know dad hopes I haven't been chosen; he wishes to marry me off for the treaty. That's the dad I have learned to live with. It- it looks like either way, I'll be leaving the tribe. Just - which way?"

"Don't say that until you really know. The only way that you'll know, you have been chosen Is that either, later today or tomorrow you see someone strange. A person in weird clothing like you have never seen before that's how I remember it."

"If it is one of them how will I know if it's Xavier?"

"You will feel his authority and he has soul piercing, silver eyes."

"Okay if I do see someone, I will look into its eyes," I said sarcastically.

"If you don't feel safe enough to look into his eyes, He has an ancient looking ring on his left hand. One last thing, you should know is that he will speak to you; none of the others will. He will talk like a young man, but also like a father, so be cautious. You said you felt safer when the men were around; he doesn't like men besides the ones in his clan. Would you like me to summon one of the men here?"

"No then they might figure it out. Besides, I'm feeling fine right now. Even now I still feel someone watching me."

"Fine, that's enough of this sort of talk. Your little siblings will be here soon. Stay here while I go check on breakfast. Don't go anywhere stay right here go to sleep or whatever. And, you see Xavier or any of the other ones when he is gone run straight to me."

"Okay, I will. But, please hurry I still don't like the feeling of being watched."

"I'll be back soon." She untangles her arms from me; allowing me to get up. She leaves without even meeting my eyes. Maybe because, she doesn't want to see that the only thing there is worry.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 confirmed 

The feeling of being watched is stronger than ever; like one of them is going to show themselves to me. It's strange, now it feels like they are in the room right now (or at least out the teepee flap).

A shadow appears outside the teepee and it's too large to be Nala or Deven. It could be them if she's on her tiptoes with Deven on her shoulders. On the other hand, it could be she has the water bucket on her head. The shadow is too big even for those possibilities. It has to be one of the men coming to check in on me; that has to be it.

Why isn't the shadow moving? It's just standing there as if it can already see me clearly. I want to check it out, but I was told to stay hidden and in the teepee. Ohh, I don't like this at all I wish mom didn't leave. She couldn't just wait till dad or one of the other men came and got us or called when it was ready. Now I'm alone and I can't see if Nala or Deven are on their way back yet.

Maybe this whole thing is just getting to me. The wedding, maybe getting chosen, but that shadow and the feeling- I can't shake them. The shadow is still there; it doesn't even look like its breathing.

"_Cooooommmmmeee." _What is that? Is that the shadow talking or is it just me. I must be crazy thinking shadows talk. "_Cooooommmmmeee." _there it is again. "Who's there?" I whisper. _"Cooooommmmmeee toooo meeeee."_ Is all I hear back.

I stood there, waiting to hear it again, but I didn't that's the last I hear of the voice for _now_. I have to ask mom about that if she ever heard anything like this. Looking around the shadow is gone also, but the feeling of being watched is stronger than ever. What's the deal with that?

I should go to bed to clear my mind a little sleep will do me good. I pull the covers over my head to under dress and put on my night clothes. Usually I do it out in the open, but with this feeling of being watched a little more covering won't hurt.

I finish dressing and crawled from under the covers. Folding up my day outfit, I notice a big grass stain on the back of it. _Must have been from this morning, _I thought as I set it aside and crawled back under the cover. Deven comes running into the teepee with Nala not far behind him.

He sees me and runs for me to snuggle up closely to continue his nap. Nala grabs him before he can jump on my head. She struggles against Deven's squirming body. She drops him and he begins to bawl his eyes out. I get up to comfort him. He stops once in my arms and snuggles close to me like he does with mom.

"Jaya, we met someone down by the river," Nala screeched.

"Tell me, who did you meet?" I asked not really interested.

"A strangely dressed guy, He asked if I had an older sister."

"What did you tell him? Did he ask anything else?" I queried now interested—and perplexed.

"I told him yes I did and he asked me if it was you that was sitting in the field earlier this morning, to that I also said yes." Nala said sounding proud of herself.

"You told him what?"

"The answers of his questions, oddly they were all about you. I invited him to come and meet you, but he said he'd find you in due time - whatever that means."

"Why did you talk to him? You know mom and dad said never to talk to strangers."

"I know, but he saved Deven from falling into the water. Deven was leaning too far looking at the fish."

"Okay, what else did he look like? Did you see his eye color or any jewelry he was wearing?"

"Yeah his eyes are the coolest silver a color I had ever seen before. Have _you_ ever seen his eyes? And I wasn't paying attention if he was wearing jewelry."

"Are you positive you didn't see any jewelry on his hands or anything? Come on think Nala I know you pay more attention than that."

"Wait, yeah on his left hand there was a really weird looking ring. When he passed me Deven, I saw it. Why do you ask? And you never answered my other question."

"He did? Great. _And_ he's going to meet me soon - even better." I grumbled sarcastically, trying to hide the fear rising inside of me; there was no need to worry the little ones.

"Why are you so negative? He seemed nice enough and he looked excited to see you. It's not like he's one of them. He's probably one of the new folk."

"Don't talk about them; you know you're not allowed. Now take Deven so I can get some sleep."

"Fine I won't talk about them anymore and you can keep Deven; most of the time he thinks your mom so why should I take him? On top of that, he's already back asleep on you. Look?"

"I'll be fine, I'll keep him. Can you stay quiet, play somewhere else, or go find mom and ask if breakfast is ready?"

"I'll go find mom. I don't want to wake Deven up again; he was a pain down by the river. Bye."

She ran out of the teepee before I could say anything else. I turn my attention back to sleeping Deven on my chest. He looks peaceful even after, what sounds like, Xavier held him. Everyone- besides mom- says the bloodsuckers are bad. Mom doesn't directly say it, but in a way, she does. Are they really bad? Did Xavier just use Deven to ask Nala questions about me and where to find me? I hope she didn't say where he could, but knowing her she probably did and that would be bad.

I tried to lift Deven off my chest so I could get comfortable, but he wouldn't let go- even in his sleep. Finally, giving up on getting him off me, I switch to my side. Instantly he wakes up and starts crying. I try to calm him down, but he won't stop, I switch back over to my original position. He stops almost as quickly as he started.

With a sigh, I close my eyes and try to sleep with the extra weight on my chest. I want to toss and turn, but I'll wake up Deven if I do that. I can't move him or he will wake up. What can I do that will either entertain me or make me fall asleep? I can count sheep, but that just bores me to death and it doesn't make me tired. What else is there? I can sing some of the songs mom used to sing to me maybe then I could move Deven aside and slide out from under him.

_That's it! I'll sing to him; Nala already said he thinks I'm mom most of the time. Just which song to do it with? I know a lot from the ones mom used to sing to me. Which one does he like? I hear mom sing the same one to him all the time, but how does it go? Oh, I know it now. How am I going to do this?_

Time to start, I sing the first couple of words an instantly Deven's whole body relaxes even more. I kept singing while I lifted up his body and stopped singing. He broke down and bawled his eyes out. I set him back on my chest again then, he was fine. I started the song over and his body relaxed again to the soothing words. This time, I continued to sing as I lifted him off of me and placed him next to me. I got him comfortable, but as I kept singing, he started grabbing my arm again. It looked like he needed to hold on to something, but what could I give him?

I looked around the teepee for anything that he could snuggle up to. There's a pillow, but he already had one of those. What else, there's a bag and in the corner, that's it. Nala's buckskin doll she was playing with earlier. I stopped singing and run to get the doll. Deven was bawling his eyes out and searching for something to snuggle with. I got the doll and ran back across the teepee. I tossed the doll into Deven's reach, he grabbed it, cuddled it, and went back to sleep with not even another peep.

I made sure he was fine then, I slipped out of the teepee unnoticed. I looked around to see if anyone was there, I could feel someone, I just couldn't see them. No one was there that I could see; I ran. As I ran, I didn't know where I was going to go to. There were probably older women at the lake washing clothes. So, that left the field. _Let's finish this where it started or at least get to the bottom. _I thought as I ran to the field.

I started to hear voices and see shadows a little ways down. As I rounded the corner, I jumped behind the nearest teepee to see who was talking. The two shadows stopped right in front of the teepee I was behind, which allowed me to see and hear them. However, they couldn't see me though, they might have heard me if I was too loud. One of the men was my father; he had his arm around the other in brotherly way. I had never seen the other man before; he could have been from the band of men from the Sioux tribe. I know who that must be - Makya. That's why dad was so friendly with him.

"I'm glad our tribes have finally settled their problems," Dad said.

"You sound happy about giving your daughter for a treaty."

"To tell you the truth, I am sort of glad to send her off to get married to you. She needs to learn some more about her mother's side. Even though she won't be with us, I know she will be protected. Right?"

"She will be, my tribe is _very_ different from your's sir."

"You can call be Chief Dev or just Dev. I grew up in a family where we always called my father 'sir'. I never let my kids call me that," He interrupted. "Sorry, continue what you were saying."

"Thank you –Dev. You see our tribe doesn't let our women go anywhere unprotected not after five of the women were killed a couple years back. Jaya would be the most protected out of every one of them when she becomes my wife."

"Maya – her mother - would kill me if anything happened to her daughter after the wedding. She'd probably use her eye thing on me. Ugh." Dad said, he shuddered at the thought of it.

"Yeah, one of the women back at our tribe can do that; when she turns those eyes on me, my skin crawls."

"Same here," my father agreed.

"When will I get to meet Jaya? Before I marry her, I want to make sure we get along I don't want to be chasing her or fighting with her."

"At breakfast, Maya is supposed to bring her to the meal place soon, let's head up there."

"Wait. Does your tribe have _them_?"

"Yes, we do," my father admitted sadly. "But don't worry, she hasn't been chosen of what I know of."

_Shows what you know. _I thought to myself.

"We just want to let you know we will still do this treaty even if she is chosen."

"Thank you my tribe and I thank you very much we need this treaty badly I'm sorry to say."

"It's ok lets go to breakfast so I can meet Jaya my new wife, hopefully."

I moved back a couple of steps so when they moved they couldn't see me, being careful not to make any noise in the brush behind me. I had to feel around with my feet to avoid the sticks and leaves. I looked up; they were still moving. I took a couple steps back and banged into something rock hard.

Before I could turn to see what it was, a hand covered my mouth. I struggled with the hand, but then another one grabbed my shoulder, holding it hard. I couldn't move; no one in my tribe was this strong; could it be one of the ones from the Sioux tribe? I looked down at the hand, it's pale white not the reddish brown of the Sioux tribe. It must have been him, but why couldn't he wait till the field? For one thing, he didn't know I was heading there.

The feeling was gone, but who needed the feeling when the person was right behind you? I stopped struggling to see what would happen. His grip tightened more, which made it hard to breath. I wanted to struggle, but I kept myself calm.

"Are you calm now princess?" A deep voice asked. "Nod or shake your head if it's true."

I nodded my head.

"That is very good. We are going to go to the first place I saw you. Please do not squirm or I will have to tighten my grip on you even more and I might squish you if I do that. I really don't want to do that, okay. Nod or shake or head again if you understand."

I nodded my head again.

"One more thing before we get going, I am going to remove my hand from your mouth. I need you to be quiet. We can talk in the field where we will be alone. Once again, nod or shake your head."

I nodded again. He removed his had from my mouth which allowed me to breath normally.

"Now, let's go; some more people are coming. I'm going to lift you up until we get to the field; it will be a lot faster. When I start running if you squirm, I might drop you and I really don't want to hurt you. Then I would have to find another bride." I was pretty sure that last part was supposed to be sarcasm.

He was about to say nod, but I did it automatically.

"Very good, you are getting this down; let's go."

He removed his hand from my shoulder and just stared at me. I guess he was trying to see if I would run away. He picked me up like a baby and squeezed again which made me gasp for air. When he heard it, he chuckled a little, but after that, he tightened a little more. I learned in order to breathe; I had to do it through my mouth.

He still hadn't moved; I looked up. He was still just staring at me. I looked at his face; he had long black hair and - as my mom said - silver eyes, but I didn't feel anything from them, only that they could probably see through walls, when his eyes met mine, a seductive smile spread across his face.

Then, we were running faster than I could run and it didn't even seem to tire him out. We reached the field in less than two minutes; it usually took me at least ten minutes when I was running. I looked up at him; he smiled back down at me and once again, tightened his hold on me.

He walked deeper into the field and sat on the grass without loosening his grip on me or letting me go. He shifted me as if I was a doll and I let him. He got me the way he wanted me.

"Now you may talk," Xavier said calmly.

"Okay."

"Don't you have questions for me - like why you?"

"Yes I do, but I was taught to let men talk first."

"Well with me, you may speak your mind."

"Okay. Let me just say, you were not at all what I thought you'd be like. But, I haven't been around for that long. Anyway, so why did you choose me?"

"Because you were the first one I saw and liked even though I only showed myself now, I have been watching you for some time now. I also know that you are to marry another man," he explained in a silky voice.

"Yes, I am betrothed to a Sioux man, but it doesn't look like I will be marrying him. My people say you are _bloodsuckers; _is that true?" I replied.

"Yes, that is one of the things I have to explain to you before I take you to be my wife. My people have to suck blood to live. We have found one way to make it so we don't have to kill an entire tribe when we feed; that's why we take brides. When we first suck their blood we imprint on them."

"What is _imprint?_"

"It is the time when we first suck our bride's blood. We create a bond with that person. Once we do that, it doesn't hurt them anymore. A lot of them say it makes them feel good; however, the good feeling doesn't last forever. That's why we take new brides every ten years. We have learned that there is one person out there for each of us that the good feeling lasts for and they won't age just like us."

"How to do you know if that bride is the one?"

"That I will explain some other time when you are my wife, for now, just know that _that_ bride will bear a child."

"Has that ever happened before?"

"Yes; to many of us it has and because of that, my clan has gotten bigger than when it was first made."

"One last thing I'm confused about; what happens to the old brides when their ten years are done?"

"We either return them to their families or let them start new lives; whichever one they want. Most just want to start new lives; some actually change their names."

"That is why everyone thinks you killed them."

"I have killed some on accident, but that was their fault. They jumped and attacked me. I hated to see them die, but they didn't want to be my wife; I couldn't do anything. One thing I have to ask; are you going to attack me or jump off the roof? Because if you are, I might as well find a bride that won't."

"Why would I kill myself when you said after ten years if it doesn't still feel good then I can leave?" I asked matter-of-factly.

"Good. I have a strong feeling about you, a _very_ strong feeling about you." He paused then whispered, "Someone is coming."

"Who is it? Is it one of the new men?"

"No he's much too small - two or three years old; he's yelling and crying. He keeps saying 'mama'." He sounded quite confused.

"I know who that is," I said calmly. "It's Deven - my little brother. Sometimes he thinks I'm mom. I better go get him; excuse me."

"Oh, the little kid I helped earlier. He called me dad."

"Great, not only does he not call his real dad _dad_, but now he's calling complete strangers dad."

Xavier still didn't let go of me, instead once again he stood with me in his arms.

"Xavier you can let me go, I'm not going to run. What would be the point in running? You could catch me with no problem. I just have to go get Deven before he gets hurt or is found by one of the men." I said as I tried unsuccessfully to squirm out of his arms.

"I will, but when you started squirming, I thought once out of my arms you were going to run. But you're right, I could catch you." Xavier said as he put me to my feet.

"Thank you. Where's Deven?"

"You're welcome. He's behind that bush over there," he said pointing to a nearby bush with his finger.

"I'll be right back so chill out will ya?" I teased.

"Just go before I carry you over there," he teased back, grinning.

"I'm going, I'm going. You're not going to start picking me up whenever you feel I'll run, right?"

"Only if I feel like it, now go," he kept grinning.

He finally let go of my hands, but kept an eye on me as I walked away. I felt his eyes bore into my back. Then I finally knew what mom meant my soul piercing eyes.

I started to walk to the spot he pointed out, when I heard a rustling in the bush next to me. As I stopped to check it out, I caught a glimpse of Xavier still staring at me. I smiled at him to show it was alright and turned back to the bush.


End file.
